Medieval and Renaissance England

The Women of the Cousin’s War

“The Duchess, The Queen and The King’s Mother” is the “subtitle” of this compilation of non-fiction essays by historians and renowned authors Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin and Michael Jones.

The women in the title of the book is not unexpectedly Jacquetta of Luxembourg (Gregory), Elizabeth Woodville (Baldwin) and Margaret Beaufort (Jones).

The book is divided in three sections dedicated to the three impressive women, written in a way that immediately catch the interest of reader. The only section I mostly browse through is the one about Elizabeth Woodville, and that actually says nothing about the essay as such but more about the fact that I think I have overdosed on her lately.

But what I can say for all essays is that they open the eyes of the reader to aspects that one may not have previously known.

To me the ones about Jacquetta and Margaret are the most interesting, simply they were the ones I knew the least about when I started reading.

I didn’t know, for example, the ties Jacquetta had to Margaret of Anjou. I also learned to understand the background to the actions which has branded Margaret as the ruthless schemer she has been branded as by many historians. I found I both understood her and liked her.

So I highly recommend this book, it has been a pleasure to read it. I’m sorry to to such a great extent leave out David Baldwin, but being familiar with his previous work, I have no doubt in my mind that for those who hasn’t “over-read” on Elizabeth Woodville, his essay keep exactly the same standard as the others.

I will also shortly review his book “The Lost Prince – the survival of Richard of York”.